Asunción Álvarez is a Founding Partner at Soluciones Semánticas, a
communications consultancy specialising in the analysis and evaluation
of business and brand discourse through the use of computational
techniques. She holds a B.A. in Computational Linguistics and an M.A.
in Cognitive Science from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, as
well as a Ph.D. in Philosophy from King’s College London.
Madrid, Spain
Brian McIntyre is the owner of Orchard Brand Agency, a planning and insight agency based in Dublin. With a long-held interest in semiotics arising his period as a director of Added Value in London, he is an expert practitioner in consumer and cultural insight, brand positioning and applied innovation. Brian is an avid musician having spent several seasons as a semi-professional opera singer and a passionate writer. His Orchard Blog - 140+ essays at the intersection of marketing and life - insightfully anticipated the triumph of Trump, Macron, Netflix, and holds firm in its prediction that the new shape of Toblerone cannot last.
Dublin,
Albena Todorova is currently at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia where an innovative semiotics offer includes courses on advertising & consumer culture. In 2009 she wrote a dissertation on Edgar Allan Poe in popular culture. Albena is now doing PhD research on Poe mythology & symbolism globally from Baudelaire through to Japanese mystery writer Edogawa Rampo, 60s horror movies, Lou Reed, Antony Hegarty, contemporary emo, manga & gaming subcultures and online interest groups.
Sofia, Bulgaria